PHOENIX — High schoolers who can’t pass AIMS will continue to get relief.
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Neighborhood groups will be able to bake cookies in their own kitchens for fundraising without interference from county health officials.
And texting while you’re driving won’t get you ticketed, though it may get you into an accident.
State legislators ended their 166-day session Friday, approving more than 300 new laws, rejecting even more of the 1,500-plus proposals introduced, and having quite of few of what they did like quashed by Gov. Janet Napolitano.
The session, one of the longest on record, also was marked by the death of one legislator, a heart attack by another, adoption of not one but two budgets, and even the arrest of one House member on the last day on domestic violence charges.
The big issue, of course, was money — or lack of it.
Even before the session started in January lawmakers realized that the $10.6 billion spending plan they had enacted a year ago was running in the red, the victim of the housing crisis and the soft economy. It took five months, but they finally made enough cuts and budget maneuvers to plug a $1.3 billion gap.
Legislators and the governor designed that deal to be pretty much invisible to most Arizonans, leaving services untouched.
In doing so, though, they pretty much drained the state’s rainy-day fund which was close to $700 million two years ago. So when the economy didn’t improve and Gov. Janet Napolitano was unwilling to make large spending cuts, that pretty much left short- and long-term borrowing to make up a $2 billion shortfall.
That could leave few options for lawmakers to balance the 2009-2010 budget if things don’t get better.
Lawmakers also voted to permanently repeal the state’s property tax, suspended in 2006 and set to return next year. But that was vetoed by the governor and a proposal to put the issue before voters died at the end of the session.
Money aside, what lawmakers did fell generally into several areas.
Immigration and border
Lawmakers tinkered with their new employer sanctions law which took effect Jan. 1. That measure allows a judge to suspend or revoke the business licenses of firms found guilty of knowingly hiring undocumented workers.
Business and civil rights groups have challenged the law but so far been unable to have it overturned. A three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals is expected to weigh in late this summer.
In the meantime, the law was changed to clarify that companies are liable for punishment only for employees hired since the effective date of the law. Finding an undocumented worker who already was on the payroll creates no state liability.
The measure also provides a new level of legal protection for companies that follow certain procedures. Legislators refused, however, to ban anonymous complaints.
But lawmakers found themselves unable to agree on provisions to let Arizona create its own guest worker program to help companies having a hard time finding employees.
Lawmakers also:
- Enacted a bill requiring police departments and sheriff’s deputies to do more to enforce immigration laws, only to have it vetoed by the governor;
- Failed to pass a measure making it illegal for “day laborers” to congregate on or near public sidewalks and streets;
- Agreed to allow county sheriffs to enter into agreements with Border Patrol without getting consent of county supervisors though that was vetoed;
- Did not approve a requirement that recipients of state-paid health care prove citizenship;
- Balked at creating a special optional driver’s license that would ease border crossing for U.S. citizens who do not have a passport;
- Rejected new requirements on landlords to ensure they are not renting to illegal immigrants;
- Clarified state laws which prohibit people in this country illegally from having firearms.
Education
The big story here, as in the overall session, was money.
Lawmakers continued to increase funding for K-12 education despite the budget crunch. But much of that was not by choice: 2000 voter-approved measure forbids cuts and actually require inflation-indexed increases in basic state aid.
Lawmakers also agreed to continue the ability of high school seniors who cannot pass all three portions of the AIMS test, required to graduate, to use good grades to supplement their scores. But the measure slowly reduces how many extra points students can earn that way, from the current 25 percent of their score eventually down to just 5 percent.
Lawmakers also:
- Authorized the Board of Regents to borrow $1 billion for new construction projects and deferred maintenance, with repayment supposed to come from increasing the number of lottery tickets sold;
- Voted to block schools from cutting music, art, physical education or vocational education programs to accommodate the requirements for additional math and science courses mandated to graduate from high school, only to have that bill blocked by gubernatorial veto;
- Required publishers of college textbooks to provide more information to schools, a move designed to try to trim costs for students;
- Barred schools from collecting fingerprints or other biometric information from students without parental consent;
- Closed loopholes that allow a school employee to be arrested and not have that information given to the district;
- Voted to require that certain school district contract workers be fingerprinted just the same as regular employees;
- Clarified that students with diabetes are allowed to self-administer their own injections on school grounds;
- Provided an additional $40.6 million for English learner programs, though the sufficiency of that is subject to court challenge;
- Refused to bar schools from providing 8th grade graduation certificates;
- Would not require the state to withdraw from the federal No Child Left Behind program;
- Required the state to pay for new classrooms for full-day kindergarten programs, not just operational costs.
Health and welfare
Much of the activity here focused on Child Protective Services, with lawmakers attempting to subject the agency to more legislative and public scrutiny following some high-profile deaths.
The agency now will have to provide immediate information in cases of fatalities or near fatalities and be subject to opening up other records. Court hearings to take away a child also generally will be open to the public.
The agency also is being required to inform police when a child believed to be in danger is missing. And it also must promptly obtain court orders on child custody and abide by them.
Lawmakers also:
- Attempted to enact a state ban on partial-birth abortions only to have the measure vetoed — twice;
- Sought to put requirements into statute about what a minor has to prove to show she is mature enough to terminate a pregnancy without parental consent, also vetoed;
- Failed to enact bar nurse-practitioners from performing abortions;
- Blocked county health departments from regulating items baked at home by groups trying to raise money;
- Expanded the amount of money the state’s indigent health care system can spend trying to get people to quit smoking;
- Voted to require insurance companies to provide some coverage for children with autism.
Law and order
The big push here was in the area of guns — who could carry them and where.
But at virtually every turn, lawmakers found themselves at odds with the governor who vetoed:
- Reducing the penalty on those found carrying a concealed weapon without a state permit, from the current possible six months in jail to just a $300 fine;
- Providing for lifetime concealed weapons permits;
- Allowing someone who feels threatened to unholster a weapon without fear of arrest also was rejected.
Legislators themselves killed two other measures, one to allow guns on school campus and the other to let bar owners permit patrons to bring in their firearms.
The fate of one other measure remains unresolved: Allowing individuals to have a gun anywhere in a vehicle, even hidden whether or not they have concealed weapons permits. That measure, approved on the last day of the session, is on the governor’s desk.
Lawmakers also agreed to:
- Direct the Department of Public Safety to deploy photo radar cameras statewide but not report citations to insurance companies to affect rates or the Motor Vehicle Division to put points on a license; exempt those who are captured speeding from having their citations reported to their insurance
- Refused to allow victims of violent crime sue publishers of books, movies and videos they believed incited the attack;
- Increased the penalty for teachers and members of the clergy who have sex with underage teens;
- Boosted the penalties for operating a boat while intoxicated;
- Would not ban driving while texting.
Consumer issues
- Allowed consumers to “freeze’’ their credit reports, for a fee, blocking others from applying for credit in their names;
- Decided to license loan originators;
- Refused to enact state regulations on “reverse mortgage’’ transactions;
- Would not allow the continued operation of payday loan store in Arizona after 2010, though a measure to repeal that “sunset’ is being put on the ballot by the industry.
Environment
- Killed a far-reaching proposal including everything from limiting how long diesel trucks can idle and requirements for schools to save energy to new construction and energy efficiency standards;
- Voted to extend the expiration date of certain tax incentives for solar power plants, from 2011 to 2040;
Potpourri:
- Agreed to allow creation of a special taxing district to help
establish a rock and roll theme park in Eloy;
- Required the state treasurer and state-run retirement systems
to divest of certain investments in Iran, Sudan and other
countries linked to terrorism;
- Barred the state from participating in the federal Real ID
program for enhanced driver license security;
- Voted to require railroads to provide information to the state
in cases where they want to establish new lines or expand
existing ones;
- Agreed to ask voters whether they want to constitutionally
define marriage in Arizona as solely between one man and one
woman;
- Refused to put a measure on the ballot defining hunting and
fishing as constitutional rights;
- Spelled out that breast implants are not subject to state sales
taxes;
- Allowed the city of Williams to continue to draw some water
from illegally drilled wells;
- Made it a crime to intentionally “trip’’ horses, a practice
used at certain rodeos;
- Voted to require licensing of off-road vehicles to generate
fees for trail maintenance and enforcement;
- Mandated that cities allow “sign walkers,’’ people who make a
living carrying signs pointing to retailers or giving other
messages.
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